“I’ve known Taylor since he was in college. Just trying to help the kid out.”
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Taylor Montgomery must like his gravy lumpy because he has chosen Colt Knost to be his caddie this week at the WM Phoenix Open.
Knost, known as The Big Gravy, was a tour pro of nearly 15 seasons and 199 PGA Tour starts before retiring and becoming one of the best TV foot soldiers for CBS and host of the popular podcast “Golf’s Subpar.” Asked whether he lost a bet, Knost texted, “Haha no. I’ve known Taylor since he was in college. Just trying to help the kid out.”
Most years, CBS Sports broadcasts the WM Phoenix Open, and Knost has set up shop at the famous par-3 16th at TPC Scottsdale the last few years, including when Sam Ryder made a hole-in-one. However, it’s a Super Bowl year – Jim Nantz will be on the call on Sunday – so NBC is handling the WM TV duties, which means Knost has the week off.
In recent years at the WM Phoenix Open, Colt Knost has been planted at the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale for CBS with colleague Amanda Renner. (Photo: Golfweek)
Montgomery, 29, had a strong rookie debut on Tour last season thanks to a brilliant putting stroke. He enters the week at No. 82 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The former UNLV product has been using Australian Grant Booth as a caddie, but Booth, who also doubles as Montgomery’s swing coach, is a stick, too, and has been trying to make it in pro golf.
“Obviously a great golfer,” Montgomery said of Booth, his caddie at the Sony Open in Hawaii. “Played in the Monday qualifiers and stuff. Hopefully you’ll see his name out here soon.”
Montgomery asked Knost to caddie this week a couple of months ago, and Knost, 38, is set to make his debut on the bag at a course he knows well. It’s where he announced his retirement as a player after the 2020 WM Phoenix Open. To borrow one of Knost’s own catchphrases, he’s about to “get amongst it” this week at TPC Scottsdale.
Montgomery was scheduled to tee off at 1:17 p.m. MT but first-round play was suspended due to unplayable conditions at 12:32.
Let’s take a look at some of the top candidates for the Arnold Palmer Award.
There were 28 rookies on the PGA Tour for the 2022-23 season, the same number that there were a year ago. It’s also the most since the Tour had 35 newbies for the 2011 season.
Of those 28, none made the 30-man field at the Tour Championship, the first time rookies were shut out of East Lake Golf Club since the 2020-21 season. Notably, there have never been more than two rookies in the season finale in the 17-year history of the FedEx Cup.
While plenty of these first-year players made some noise along the way this season, there can only be one Rookie of the Year. Players are still vying for the honor, as the FedEx Cup Fall series events count towards consideration.
There are three events left: the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Bermuda and the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Ballots for Rookie of the Year will be sent out after the RSM.
For now, let’s take a look at some of the top candidates for the Arnold Palmer Award with their FedEx Cup ranking in parentheses.
Here’s what several PGA Tour players have said about the 11-time LPGA winner teeing it up this week with the men.
LAS VEGAS — Although a number of intriguing storylines pop off the page at the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open, all eyes will be on Lexi Thompson when she tees off Thursday at TPC Summerlin as part of a group with Kevin Roy and Trevor Werbylo, making her the seventh women to play on the PGA Tour.
Thompson’s exemption caused at least one Tour player (Peter Malnati) to say the move might have been a reach by tournament organizers (see full Malnati comments below), but Thompson calmly brushed the episode aside when she met with media members Tuesday.
“No reaction. I knew some comments were going to happen with anything. Like I said, I’m out here playing of course with the men, but I want to leave a message just to the kids that I’m following my dreams and to go after what you want with a positive mindset and don’t let anybody’s comments or reaction get in the way of that,” Thompson said. “But it’s all good. I mean, I expected it, so… ”
Here’s what other PGA Tour players have said about the 11-time LPGA winner teeing it up this week with the men.
BLAINE, Minn. — Coming into the 2023 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities, the penultimate event of the PGA Tour’s 2022-23 regular season, there were plenty of golfers who needed to make a final push to get into the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Lee Hodges is in the lead at 15 under after Friday’s action, and he finished his second round with a birdie putt after the horn sounded to suspend play. It was suspended due to darkness with a few groups remaining who will finish the second round Saturday morning.
However, plenty of golfers needing a good week in the Twin Cities are packing their bags and heading home early.
Those who missed the cut, which came at 4-under 138, included players who were making a playoff push and others who were hoping to make their respective Ryder Cup teams.
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The cut won’t officially be made until Saturday morning when the second round concludes, but the number is set.
Here’s a look at nine golfers who missed the cut at the 3M Open.
We’re less than 24 hours away from the start of round one at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship.
Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, the top two players in the Official World Golf Ranking, have decided to take this week off (all players are permitted to skip one designated event this season).
Max Homa enters the week as the defending champion, although his win came at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm after the venue changed to accommodate the 2022 Presidents Cup being staged at Quail Hollow later in the year. Rory McIlroy, a three-time winner of this event, is the last player to win in Charlotte.
If you’re looking for a fantasy lineup to use this week, you’re in luck. Here’s one of our favorite rosters for the Wells Fargo Championship.
While many of the world’s best players are at home preparing for the year’s first major, there are some big names in the field at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course for the Valero Texas Open looking to earn their way into the Masters.
It’s only fitting we start with Rickie Fowler, who hasn’t played at Augusta National Golf Club since the November edition in 2020. His game has returned, finishing inside the top 20 in four of his last five stroke-play event starts. Before missing the cut at last year’s Valero, Fowler posted back-to-back top-20 finishes at TPC San Antonio in 2021 and 2019.
Here are five big-name players with a chance to earn an invitation down Magnolia Lane.
A total of 21 players in the field for last year’s Genesis Invitational won’t be playing this week.
Take a look at the field for the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational this week in Los Angeles.
Then glance at last year’s results at the Riviera Country Club.
More than any other tournament so far on the 2022-23 Tour schedule, the impact of more than 20 former Tour players who are now playing on the LIV Golf League and are under suspension from the PGA Tour will be felt at the Genesis. It’s an impact that has been lessened with Tiger Woods’ announcement that he will play in the event he hosts, making his first start of the season.
Coincidence?
Last year’s Genesis winner, Joaquin Niemann, isn’t playing because he joined the list of players suspended by the Tour the moment he opted for the LIV Golf Series. Also missing will be Cameron Tringale (tied for 13th), Mito Pereira and Paul Casey (tied for 15th), Sebastian Munoz (tied for 21st), Jason Kokrak (tied for 26th), Cameron Smith (tied for 33rd) and Pat Perez, Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia and Carlos Ortiz (all tied for 39th).
Ten other players who missed the cut won’t be in L.A., including four players who have combined for nine major championships, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed.
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That makes a total of 21 players in the field for last year’s Genesis Invitational who won’t be playing this week. There were 17 former LIV players in the field at the CJ Cup in 2022 who didn’t play this year, 16 at the Farmers Insurance Open and 15 at the WM Phoenix Open.
But the biggest impact is yet to come, and it will be on the First Coast: There will be 25 participants in last year’s Players Championship who have joined LIV Golf and are barred from entering this year. It includes Smith, whose 66 was one of the most stirring closing rounds for a winner in tournament history, runner-up Anirban Lahiri and third-place finisher Paul Casey.
Two more players who were among the top 10 also won’t be playing, Harold Varner (tied for sixth) and Johnson (tied for ninth).
It’s the nature of The Players field that it would lose more than other tournaments to the LIV suspension list. It’s the PGA Tour’s signature event, with the largest purse, and it’s always a must-play.
And their spots will be filled, by the best 144 players the Tour can get, led by the last three players to be ranked No. 1 in the world, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.
Also likely to play are other major champions such as Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama; veteran winners Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau, and rising stars Max Homa, Tom Kim and Seamus Power.
Tiger Woods speaks with winner Joaquin Niemann following the final round of the 2022 Genesis Invitational golf tournament. (Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Indeed, The Players is on track to get 45 of the current top 50 in the world. LIV Golf proponents would counter that Johnson, Koepka, Reed, Kevin Na, Casey, Jason Kokrak and others have fallen out of the top 50 because the World Golf Ranking committee isn’t yet awarding points for LIV events.
And what’s that they say about every door that closes, another one opens? Having 25 spots open by the suspension of the LIV Golf pros may have simply sped up the process for the next generation of young players. Among those who are in line to make their first Players’ starts:
∎ Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who is 29th in the world, with 11 top-10 finishes and two victories worldwide in the past 18 months.
∎ Davis Thompson of St. Simons Island, Ga., the latest in a long list of University of Georgia products coming to the Tour who was matching Jon Rahm shot-for-shot for most of the final round in the American Express.
∎ Taylor Montgomery of the U.S., a former UNLV player and a deadly putter who has quietly moved into 10th on the FedEx Cup points list. He opened the season with five consecutive too-15 performances, three of them among the top 10.
∎ Ben Taylor of England, who played college golf at LSU and is a green-hitting machine, with a tie for third in Houston and a fourth at the Sony Open.
∎ Alex Smalley of the U.S., who played at Duke and tied for fifth at the RSM Classic at Sea Island in November with four rounds of 67 or better.
Morikawa’s last missed weekend came at the 2022 Open.
TPC Scottsdale has shown some teeth in Arizona this week for the WM Phoenix Open. The winds have been up, the greens have dried out and the course is playing firm and fast.
The tough conditions at the PGA Tour’s first full-field designated event have sent some of the biggest names in the game home early.
On the other side of the coin, Scottie Scheffler, this week’s defending champion, leads the pack alongside Adam Hadwin through 36 holes at 10 under. Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele are two shots behind them at 8 under.
The cut came in at even-par 142, with 66 players making the weekend.
View pictures of PGA Tour rookie Taylor Montgomery throughout his short but productive career.
The king of consistency so far this 2022-23 season has been Taylor Montgomery. The 28-year-old rookie out of Las Vegas has enjoyed early-career success, in large part because of his putting prowess.
At time of publishing, Montgomery leads the PGA Tour in putting average (1.643), one-putt percentage (48.75%), total birdies (192) and total eagles (10).
Due in large part to 12 cuts made in 14 total PGA Tour events played, Montgomery has worked his way into the top-10 of the FedEx Cup rankings and continues to jump up the Official World Golf Ranking.
With his recent success, Montgomery looks to be among a few dark horse candidates as we head towards the first major of the year. If you’re one to play fantasy golf or even bet on the game, Montgomery is a name you need to remember.
If you missed the action Thursday at Torrey, no worries, we have you covered.
SAN DIEGO – After holding a share of a lead for the first time in his 425th career round on the PGA Tour, Sam Ryder shot 4-under 68 on Thursday at the South Course at Torrey Pines to claim his first solo lead at the Farmers Insurance Open.
“It’s kind of why we play, so just trying to look around and enjoy the moment,” he said.
Ryder has had a knack for keeping his card – six straight years running – but is winless in 147 starts with a pair of runner-up finishes.
Ryder’s second-round 68 on the tougher South Course lifted him to a 36-hole total of 12-under 132 and three strokes better than fellow playing competitor Brandon Steele. It ties the largest 36-hole lead this season on Tour.
On a typically sun-drenched day, blustery conditions created indecision at every turn for the field of 156.
“We knew today was going to be like a put your helmet on and kind of get ready for a battle,” Ryder said.
Seventy-four golfers shot even-par 144 or better to make the cut.
